November 5, 2009

Labour

Bruce Power CEO calls for united front with building trades

Reactor refurbishment has had construction management issues

VINCE VERSACE

staff writer

A unified front which includes Bruce Power and the provincial building trades is needed to ensure continued investment in the private sector nuclear operator and construction jobs, says the company’s top official.

“I have great confidence on what we can do. I have not seen a place with a greater skill set than what I have seen here in Canada,” said Bruce Power president and chief executive officer Duncan Hawthorne.

“We have to demonstrate a united front. There is no us and them. There is just an us.”

Hawthorne delivered his unification message at the recent Provincial and Building Construction Trades Council of Ontario 52^nd convention. With prospective refurbishments to the Bruce plant requiring a $15 billion investment, Hawthorne said, the province and investors need to be convinced that Bruce Power, construction employers and the building trades can be trusted with that investment.

Bruce Power announced in July that it will focus its efforts on the refurbishment of its Bruce A and B units rather than build new reactors in order to meet its 6,300 megawatts of electricity commitment to Ontario. Refurbishing its remaining units could create up to 3,000 construction jobs over the next 10 years. Bruce Power scrapped plans for new nuclear reactors in Nanticoke and in Bruce County stating Ontario’s declining electricity demand was to blame for the change in plans.

There have been bumps in the road with current Bruce Power work, but not because of a lack of skill but a lack of planning, said Hawthorne.

“Truth is we have struggled on almost every front of the project and we have to be honest for the causes for that. It involves first-of-its-kind robotics that really challenges all of our skills sets to do this work,” he said.

“It requires very skilled operators and integration of multiple disciplines in a way that coordinates all activity.”

Hawthorne said producing nuclear power will never have unanimous consent because of ideological opposition to the technology but he believes energy security is dependent on nuclear power. He said his company’s operational, business safety and general performance proves it is a quality operation.

“The Achilles Heel I have right now is in construction project management performance. We have not done well and we all own a big piece of that,” said Hawthorne. “But within that difficult area I have seen some tremendous workmanship and great success... we have not sung our own praises.

“It is absolutely critical I can tell a story to our investors that our performance is better than this project and we can be trusted to do more.”

The removal of 800 tonne boilers “through the roof”, cutting steam drums in place and doing “massively complex, high quality welds... in very tight and small tolerances” are a credit to the high level of skills involved at the plant. “Collectively we are capable of doing a lot,” added Hawthorne.

Pat Dillon, business manager of the building trades, said he looks forward to building a partnership with Bruce Power, construction employers and the building trades in order to lobby government for the needed confidence and investment in Bruce Power work.

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